Sells, Gordon Arthur
Personal Information
Rank | S/L |
Forename(s) | Gordon Arthur |
Surname | Sells |
Gender | M |
Age | 30 |
Decorations | DFC, Twice MiD |
Date of Death | 22-10-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of Arthur and Ethel Sells. of Halton. Yorkshire. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax II |
Serial Number | LW293 |
Markings | EY-L |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Hanover War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 16. B. 4. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 239 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 129106 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 78 |
Squadron Motto | Nemo non paratus (Nobody unprepared) |
Trade | Pilot |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Adjacent to Clubhouse, Breighton Airfield, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Marble Tablet |
Memorial Text | Dedicated to all who served at this airfield and gave their lives during World War II |
Location | External, All Saints Church, Bubwith, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stone Memorial, inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text | 78 Sqn 4 Group Bomber Command Yorkshire 1939 - 1945 To All Who Served |
Location | Internal, All Saints Church, Bubwith, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Wooden Board, Memorial Chapel featuring Cross made from Halifax wreckage |
Memorial Text | The 78 Sqn Memorial in the Churchyard was dedicated by the Bishop of Selby on 7th September 1986. RAF Breighton, two miles from this church was the Sqn's home from June 1943 to May 1945 |
Location | Outside "B" Hangar, RAF Benson, Oxfordshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone & Inscribed Slate Plaque |
Memorial Text | In proud memory of all who have lost their lives serving with 78 Sqn Royal Air Force "Nemo Non Paratus - Nobody Unprepared" |
Miscellaneous Information
Mentioned in Despatches January 1942 and January 1943 |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/660/80 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/660/79 |
Fellow Servicemen
Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 22-10-1943 |
End Date | 23-10-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Breighton |
Day/Night Raid | Night (32% moon) |
Operation | Kassel. 569 aircraft, 43 losses (7.6%), due to the German controller correctly assessing that the raid was on Kassel. Blind H2S marking overshot the target but 8 out of 9 visual markers were accurate. German decoy markers drew off some of the main force but otherwise the raid was exceptionally accurate and concentrated leading to a firestorm. Over 26000 homes were destroyed and a further 26000 damaged. Some 63% of housing in the city became unusable, resulting in 100-120,000 people being displaced. The number of industrial, public and military buildings destroyed are too numerous to list Of particular note, however, was that the railway system was badly damaged and the three Henschel factories which produced the V1 bomb were all seriously damaged. This certainly pegged back the V1 deployment capability significantly. The number of dead was around 5600 |
Reason for Loss | Crashed at Vörden, Germany |